By going with a competitive scoring system, SO set themselves up for endless headaches trying to stay ahead of people gaming the system while driving away other

By going with a competitive scoring system, SO set themselves up for endless headaches trying to stay ahead of people gaming the system while driving away otherwise valuable contributors who don't feel like jumping through hoops. Wikipedia demonstrates that a cooperative model with minimal rules can work staggeringly well, even on a massive scale. There is such a strong intrinsic motivation to contribute. It's a terrible waste to subvert that shared interest in favor of a conflicting one.